Little Brother
by Lunarangel's Dark Flame
Summary: When Ace was told that Luffy had broken into Impel Down just to save him, several emotions ran rampant through his mind. The emotion that finally won? Rage. Spoilers for current chapters.


Now that they know Luffy's there to save Ace, it's going to get even more hectic. However, Luffy will not surrender. Why? Because he's Luffy. If Luffy wants to save his brother, he will. If he has to go through several different hells to do it, he will! Why?! Because he's Luffy! Say it with me!

One Piece fans: Because he's Luffy!

Disclaimer!

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. If I did, Ace's fangirls would have already broken Ace out. Same goes with Robin and her fanboys.

* * *

Ace looked at the towering man; his weary eyes opened wide with shock.

"What…did you say?" Please tell him that he didn't say that. Please tell him that he said that to torture him. He'd take being mauled by the minotaurs. He'd take having none of his powers and faced with the guards on the supposed 6th level but…this was just cruel.

The Impel Down officer, known as Deper, glared down at him with a cruel smirk.

"Oh, wasn't I clear? Let me say it slower. Monkey D. Luffy is here."

Ace felt the little bit of fight he had leave him completely. "You caught him?"

"Not yet. He broke in."

"Say what? He _broke_ in?"

"Exactly. Such a grave crime must be handled with our most terrifying torture. Not even death will suffice," Deper laughed. He loved it when a pirate got his.

"Don't you touch him!" Ace screamed.

"Or what? Last I checked, you couldn't do anything. You can't stop the war we're starting with Whitebeard and you can't save your own little brother," Deper taunted.

Seeing Ace shake visibly, Deper let out another laugh. "That's right! We know all about how you two are brothers! Meaning we know that the only reason he came here was to save you! Not because of the war, oh no. For the simple fact that you're his big brother. Sibling loyalty, what a beautiful thing. Heh."

"Please…" Ace could feel tears work their way to his eyes. "Please don't hurt him. He's just a child. He…he doesn't deserve this!"

"If he's a pirate, then he does deserve it. He's already been a problem. He punched a Tenryuubito. That right there means he deserves to be here. Deal with it."

Deper began to walk away but stopped when Ace screamed.

"You asshole Marines talk about how you're justice! How you are right and good! What's the good in killing a child just because he wants to save his big brother?!"

Taking one last look at Ace, Deper shook his head then continued his walk.

"Were you the one that raised him? If so, you did a horrible job. Your little brother is going to die for the simple fact that you couldn't help him."

Ace felt his mind go into a complete squall of emotions. Sadness for his little brother who was in trouble. Guilt since his little brother was only here for him. Worthlessness because he couldn't do anything to help. Emotions fought for control until one finally won.

Anger.

Fury.

Wrath.

Rage!

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

All of it was released in that one pain-filled yell.

"Let me out!" Ace began banging his head on the wall, causing blood to fly and a dent in the wall. "Let me out of here! Let me go!"

"Ace, cut it out! You're going to kill yourself!" Jinbei screamed. Jinbei watched the scene in horror. He tried to escape his shackles but it was to no avail.

The door to their cell opened. Jinbei turned and watched as their monster of a guard walked towards Ace.

"No, don't!"

It was too late. The Minotaur struck. Ace's body fell limp and when he was sure it would stay that way, the Minotaur left. Jinbei was in shock by what just happened. That was the first time since Ace got here that he tried to escape. The first time that he showed so much emotion. Jinbei gazed at Ace's battered body. He could see the red blood run down his neck and the new wound across his chest.

The proud and powerful Fire Fist Ace was reduced to a weak and helpless prisoner. He had to do something.

"Ace, you told me about your brother. You told me that he was one of the strongest people you had ever met. That's he done things that no one else has. I saw your face when you mentioned him."

It was true. They had nothing better to do so they talked. When they got to pirates, Ace's face lit up brightly as he began talking about his little brother. Jinbei was in complete shock. Here he was on Death's row and just the mention of his little brother caused him to smile as though he was back on the open sea.

'_He really loves that kid,'_ Jinbei thought. "This is the first time someone's broken _in_ to Impel Down. If he can do that, what's supposed stop him from breaking right back out?"

"You always were the pathetic little optimist, Jinbei."

"Shut the fuck up, Alligator boy!"

Jinbei growled as he heard Crocodile's annoying laugh. "This is even better than I expected! Not only is Whitebeard coming here to his doom but so has Straw Hat!"

"Don't listen to him, Ace. He's just upset that he got his shichibukai position revoked! Why?! Because he was arrested! Why?! Because he got beat by a rookie!"

"That means nothing! Straw Hat won't survive here!"

"He survived you! You're a logia fruit user! You got beat by a paramecia user!"

As the two continued their childish argument, Ace was lost in a world of his own. That blow to the chest had snapped him back to his senses. Ace knew that it was useless to struggle. These were seastone chains, for crying out loud. They robbed him of his powers and his strength. The pure unbridled rage he had just felt though…it was enough to give him a surge of power. Enough to make his guard consider him a threat again.

He was so mad. Not just at the Marine for not caring that he was going to torture then kill his little brother but at his little brother himself!

'_How could Luffy do this? How could he risk his life like this?! He's so stupid! Breaking into the worst prison in the world and for what?! To rescue me? _He's_ the little brother! He's supposed to be rescued, not me!'_

That's right. That's how it always had been. Luffy was his little brother. Luffy always needed to be helped. Ace was the one that helped Luffy. Ace remembered.

He remembered every time Luffy came crying to him.

* * *

"_Big brother! Big brother!"_

_Ace shot up and looked around his dark room. "What's going on?"_

_Reaching over to his nightstand, Ace pulled a string and his lamp flashed on. That was when he saw his little brother, standing there with huge tears in his eyes._

"_What's wrong, Luffy?"_

"_Um…can I sleep with you tonight? There was a monster in my room and…I couldn't beat it," Luffy whimpered._

_Ace smiled at him then patted the spot on his bed beside him._

"_Hop in, little brother."_

_Luffy wasted no time in doing so. He snuggled under the covers then looked at Ace with a big smile._

"_Thank you, Ace."_

_Giving his little brother an even bigger smile, Ace wiped away Luffy's tears. He turned out the light then got under the covers._

"_Night, big brother."_

"_Night, little brother."_

* * *

He remembered every time Luffy was hurt and discriminated against.

* * *

_The door opened and Ace looked away from the vegetables he had been chopping. His jaw dropped at what he saw. There was his little brother with scars and bruises and his arm wrapped around his body like a rope._

"_Luffy!" Ace dropped his knife and ran to Luffy's side. "What happened to you?!"_

_Luffy looked at his brother and he laughed weakly. "I fell."_

"_You…fell?"_

"_Yep, I tripped over a rock and fell off a cliff," Luffy explained._

_Ace gave his little brother a skeptical look. How stupid did Luffy think he was? Only Luffy would believe that. While Ace knew that Luffy could fall off a cliff and live, he knew that his arm wouldn't get wrapped around him in the process._

"_Why didn't you ask someone for help?" Luffy didn't answer. Ace sighed. "The other kids did this to you again, didn't they?"_

_Luffy nodded. Ace took Luffy's arm and unwrapped him with it. Luffy rolled his arm around for a second then looked at his brother._

"_They called me a monster and beat me up again. Why do they do that?"_

"_Because they're idiots," Ace growled._

_Luffy tilted his head in confusion until Ace hugged him tightly._

"_They don't understand that being different doesn't make you a monster. It's okay to be different. It's okay because that means you're special. You're my special little brother. Don't forget it."_

_A tear fell from Luffy's eye but he disregarded it. He held onto his brother as though his life depended on it._

"_Thank you, big brother."_

* * *

He remembered every time Luffy needed to be rescued.

* * *

"_What are you doing to my little brother?!"_

_About seven boys turned to look at the furious Ace._

"_Oh, shit, it's Ace!"_

"_Run for it!"_

_That was when they all left. Shaking his head, Ace walked over to his little brother who was picking himself off of the ground._

"_Thanks, big brother."_

"_Luffy, why do you let them do that to you?" Ace couldn't understand it. He knew Luffy could kick their butts in a few seconds._

"_Well, if I did fight them, I'd hurt them badly. What they're doing isn't hurting me—"_

_Ace interrupted him. "Physically. You're gonna have a mental scar for the rest of your life."_

"_No, I won't because you saved me. Shi shi shi shi," Luffy laughed._

"_What?"_

"_Ace, you always help me. You always save me. That's 'cause you love me. So, even if they're always going to be jerks, I know that you'll always be my big brother. So, I have no reason to hate them, don't you think?"_

_Ace looked at his little brother in shock. He sounded so…mature. Since when did his little brother sound mature?_

"_Luffy?"_

"_Hmm?"_

"…_Keep thinking that because you're right. I'm always going to be there to help you. You know why?"_

"_Because I'm your little brother and you love me!" Luffy cheered._

"_That's right!" _

_Ace grabbed Luffy into a big hug and started circling around with him. Luffy was right. He was Ace's little brother so Ace would always protect him._

* * *

He remembered. Didn't Luffy? Didn't Luffy remember that Ace was the big brother? That he was supposed to protect Luffy? Didn't he remember that?

"Idiot. How could you be so stupid?" Hot tears began to fall down his cheeks. All of his rage was gone. He didn't care about the fact that Luffy came to rescue him. He didn't care that he was about to die. He…he just cared about Luffy. "I just want Luffy out of here." Jinbei stopped arguing with Crocodile and looked at his cellmate. "I just want my little brother safe. I don't care if I die. I don't care what they do to me. I just want him safe."

"Ace, he's a pirate. A strong one and—"

"I don't care! I don't care that he's a pirate! Luffy is my little brother, first and foremost! _I_ protect _him_, not the other way around!"

Ace's head fell down and he just broke down completely. Here he was, second-in-command of Whitebeard's pirates, and he was blubbering like some…some pitiful child.

Jinbei watched the broken pirate before he frowned. "Ace, I know you're not upset about the fact that your little brother came to _your_ rescue."

"What? I'm not upset about that."

"That's the way it sounds. How pathetic. Crying like a baby about the fact that you're little brother came to your rescue. Actually, just the little brother part sounds pathetic."

"Listen, Jinbei. I am not in the mood and if Luffy _does_ break me out of here, I'm turning you into whale-shark barbeque," Ace growled.

"If you're not crying about that, then why are you crying?" Jinbei asked.

"He's my little brother. He shouldn't be here. He—"

"He's a pirate! He's one of the strongest and you know it! If he could break in, what makes you think he can't break out?"

"Because they'll be after him at every turn."

"So, you have no faith in him? You think he's that weak, he'll automatically be captured, tortured, then killed?"

"T-t-that's not—"

"So, when he gets here, what are you gonna say? 'You should have given up.' 'You shouldn't have come here.' 'You're a foolish little brother'," Jinbei mocked.

"I would never say that!" Ace screamed.

"Then what would you say? What would you say if he did show up?"

"He _will_ show up."

"What?"

"My little brother will show up. You wanna know why I was crying? It's because you're right. I'm not scared of the fact that my little brother is here and he might be killed because I _know_ he can beat these guys. I'm scared because if he does save me, he won't be my little brother anymore!" Ace admitted, new tears forming.

Jinbei smirked with those pointy teeth of his. He knew he could it. "I don't understand."

"Luffy…Luffy always depended on me. Whenever he had a problem, big brother was always the one who he ran to. He knew he could depend on me because he was my little brother and I loved him." Ace took in a deep breath as he began to calm himself down. "Now, he's rescuing me. I'm depending on him. How's that look? Luffy probably thinks I'm pathetic. He has no reason to lean on me anymore."

"And that's a bad thing?" Jinbei wondered.

Ace looked at him and Jinbei shook his head.

"Honestly, I've never had a brother but I thought the point of being a big brother was to raise the little brother so he could go out on his own and do whatever he wanted without the big brother worrying. Big brothers are a little brother's greatest role model. That's why whenever they're scared, they run to him."

Taking that in, Ace began to remember all the times that Luffy had done that.

"But how is your little brother supposed to see you as a role model if you're weeping like this? You were supposed to make Luffy a strong individual that you could be proud of. Did you do that?"

A feeling of pride and relief flooded Ace. "Yeah, I did."

"So, even though he won't be crying to big brother that doesn't mean anything. You know why? Be—" He was cut off.

"Because he loves me, enough to break into this place."

"…Exactly."

Ace smiled before it turned into a large grin and soon he was laughing louder than he had in ages.

"Bring it on, you assholes! You can break his bones! You can throw him in the fires of Hell! Do whatever! My little brother will always come back! You know why?!"

Somewhere else on the fifth level, Luffy grinned broadly as he raced towards his brother's cell.

"It doesn't matter what you do! It doesn't matter what you throw my way! There's no way I'm leaving here without him! I'm breaking my big brother out of here! You know why?!"

"Because he's my little brother! Because I raised him to be one of the strongest!"

"Because he's my big brother! Because he's always been there for me!"

That was when both D. brothers screamed.

"Because I love him!"

Jinbei smiled broadly. Buggy and Mr. 3 shook their heads in annoyance while Mr. 2 was crying. The D. brothers…were a force that this world just wasn't ready for.

* * *

Luffy, go! Go, Luffy! Save your big brother! Recent chapters have been awesome. Luffy is so pure-hearted and strong. They're going to regret taking his brother and Blackbeard...he's going down. He's going down like that Tenryuubito went down. Speaking of which, World Nobles, my ass! They're just pompous jerks that don't deserve any respect. That guy was lucky Luffy only punched him once. I would have kicked him straight in his noble jewels! Oh, dear, I'm ranting again. Thank you for reading. Bai-Bai!


End file.
